Automatic door control



March 4, 1930.

W. KOCH AUTOMATIC DOOR CONTROL Filed June 21. 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ATOR EY March 4, 1930. W. KOCH AUTOMATIC Doon CONTROL 2 sheets-sneer 2 Filed June 21, 1927 NENTOR ZIJLZLam COC Afro EY 25 broken-way;

i V'The power cylinder IES 'PATENT OFFICE f,gWILLIAiI KOCH, or Los ANGELES, CALIFORNIA AUTOMATIC DOOR CONTROL Application filed June 21,

l As` will be inferred Vfrom the above title, my invention'relates to automatic door controls,`and more particularly to a type that is hydraulic in action, f

-5 r It is an object of myy invention to provide .an automatic door control for garage doors or the like, v`operablefrom a point remote from v said garage, theoperating mechanism being .preferably positioned so as to obviatethe ne- 110 cessity of alighting fromy the automobile (whichl 'is particularly disagreeablev in inclement weather) to .unlock and Open or close garage doors before driving rin.

'It isalso an objectof my lnventionU to pro- ;15 Vvide positive locking means inside the garage `vor the-like, the Same being so positioned as to A render the" mechanism incapable of being tampered with -fromthe outside.

v t These and otherobjects,ofv my invention 31320' willy be apparentfrom a -considerationof the vspecification vand the .accompanying drawin sg'n which; j lgig, 1 is'atop walls of ay garage. or its equivalent being LFig. V2v i a, perspective `view showing the i pipingarrangementof thefoperating mechaa longitudinalfsection through the l e0 cylinder,le taken as indicated inline 3-,-3 of Fig-1; 'Y I Y, .e

Y Fig. iis a'fragm'entary sectional vlew, com- 'Parabletoa pOItOILOfFg- Showing Mock' ingqdevice inclosedor locked position. 4

:,Fign51isasectiontaken on line 5,-5 of Fig. 2,r showingk in elevation the operating fleverfsf and the locking arrangement therefor. f f ffReferring .to-the specific embodimentjof fmfy invention shown in the drawings, and the details thereof, 11 maybea power cylinder "supportedy upon a longitudinaltrack`12, as y"ifbyYU-bolts 13:and .13f. k l The track- 12 is hung longitudinally inthe center of the garage in- Y dicatedgat 14, andis supported at its forward endl` by the crossmember 15, and at therear end? by bracketslfdepending from the ceiling ofsaid garage; g' 4 1 t Q11 may be provided 4with pistons 16a-uditi mounted upon a pis- 5.0 tonrodf17. I i Said piston-rod may-extend for- Yplanfview ofmy device, the

1927. Serial No. 200,448.

wardly through a packing gland 18, and the I `eXtreme forward endy of said piston rod is connected with a carriage 19 b means of a pinand slot connection 20. aid carriage may also be adapted to pivotally support the rear ends of door opening levers 21 and`22, while the forward ends of said levers makey pivotalI connection with garage doors 23 and 24, respectively.

may be connected to the operating mecha- 7 nism as and for the scribed Describing now the'more unique features of my invention, I may provide a latching means embodying a spring strip 10 mounted on the top of the casting 27 by means yof bolt 9. The forward end ofthe strip 10 may be bent to provide a hook 30, adapted to engage a latchmember 31 mounted on kthe carriage 19, when said carriage having been motivate-d by the pistons 16 and 16 through the piston rod 17, has reached its extreme inward position, at such time the doors being closed and latched. e f

Mounted upon the piston rod 17 Y is a cam 32 adapte-d to engage the hook 30 at the initial purpose hereinafter de- 4forward movement of the rod 17 and to disengage said hook '30 from latching member 31.l The` continued forward movement of the piston rod 17 will, after the unlatching operation force open the garage doors 23 and 24:A through themedium of the levers 21 and 22. The slot 2() in rody 17 permits a slight movement of rod 17 prior to the movementof rides upon the cam and is held there until the member 31 moves past thehoolr.

For the operating mechanism may provide a series of inter-connected pipes and valves, somewhat as shown in Fig.;2, in which 33 may be a lead from the water supply-main or itsequiyalenu, valvee as at 34,r the lead 33 and-valve 34 malringa connection with one l of a pair of three-way valves 35 and 36.y A

branch 37 from the `lead 33 may provide a source of water power for the valve'35. Gonnected also to the valves 35 and 136 arepipesfV 38 and 38 which may be a continuation of the opening and closing power lines v26anfd 28, respectively. On opposite sides of the valves 35and -36 I may provide drain pipes 39fand 39', respectively-which are inter-'conne'ctedl as by aT 4Q to themain drain`41.

O eratin levers 42 and 42 adapted to open andfclose their respective valves -35 and 36 may be positioned relatively so .as to provide simple and rugged locking mean's as shown at 43 in'FigzE, in whichare shown webs 44 and 44',` cast integral with the voperating levers 42 and 42, respectively, and-cov(')perating*to provideby means of anxopen-l ying45, means for inserting the hasp of arpla'd- The control'mechanism is housed in 'a casing Q positioned at thefside of the driveway yin advance of the garage so as to be accessibleto adriver of a car. v

In theoperation of my device,it will be clearly understood that the driver of an :35.

automobile upon approaching theoperating `mechanism positioned atv the side ofthe driveway, can conveniently without alighting'ifrom the automobileinsert a key in the loclr46, and-bymoving for instance the lever 42 to such a position as to Vallow water 'from the main 33 to. pass throughthevalve 3rf3into the-pipes 38 an'd'26into the power cylinder 11 thus forcing the'pistons-16 and 16 to a forward position, causingthe unlatc'hingofthe member 31 and-'the consequent forward movement of the'y garage 19 for yopening the doors of the garage;

l When the doors have completely opened,

the driver after having returned the. lever vr42 to its original `closed position,thereby allowing the water to/drain from the power f .cylinder 11 back vthrough the pipe :126;and38 throughthevalve 36 into the-drain 39,v ma proceed-to driveintothe garage.

Y To close the garage doors the-driver, after `having left the machine inthe garage may :return past the operating mechanism, which may be,advantageouslylocated close to the entranceof the'ho`use,and by ythe movementr of the-lever 42 open the valve 35, allowing water from the main 33 to pass into'the pipe 38 on through the*int,er'-connecting` pipe 28 tothe power cylinder ll'for'ward ofthe ypisy'tous 16 and 16 ,forcing said-plungers reari wardly for closing the *doors 23 and 24, in-

oidentally accomplishingy ,the latching orV locking thereof.

Although I have herein described but one complete embodiment of my invention, it will be understood thatv various features might be'changed and numerous additions might yloe made .without departing from the `spirit and scope of my invention as referred i to above and in the appended` claims.k f

What I claimis "1. A An opening'and vclosing mechanism for a-.pair of doors-including a hydraulic cylin-r der stationarily mounted-with respect thereto, avpiston-insaidcylinder operatively connected with and adapted toopenand close` said doors, and ha-vingard extended therefrom', a carriage connectedwithsaid rod, a latch member on said carriage, afcontrol mechanism mounted at alpoint ,remotev from the doors and including separate *opening andy closing* valvesconne'ct'ed"respectively with said cylinder` onffoploosite'sidesoffsaid n' ,pistonk for conducting a -pressureiiu'id i to ythe cylinder ina door lopening 'and closing 'operation, means connected with vsaid valves j for lselectively feeding the 4pressure fluid thereto and for draining't-he same therefrom,andV

a latch bar projecting longitudinally from an end of said cylinder and operable at 'the completion of a door V'closing operation `for engaging said latch member tolatch? and hold the doors closed, andfurthe'r t'operable at the initiation` of; an opening operationffor unlatching the doors, "and, means movable with said piston and adapted to beengaged by said latch. 1fl* 2. An opening kopening and closing valves V"connected respectively with said cylinder on opposite/sides of said piston' for conductinga pressureifuid l .Y Y to the cylinder-in door opening and/closing operations,means connected with said valves for selectively feeding vvrthe pressure" fluid theretoa-nd for drainingfthe "same therefrom, a locking device including *a #latch bar f on said cylinder, meansvon' said carriage! engageabiej with said 1mb bar for lacking the 1, e doors in closed position, andniean's on said rodl for engagement with ,said ylatch'loar aty the completion of- `a closing operation and iat;

including a hydraulic cylinder,a pistonreciproc'ably mounted therein, artid-"connected with said -pistonfan'd extendedifrom said cylv inder,fa track radjacentsaid cylindenfa car- Ythe initiation of an1opening-"operationfor n' j .latching' and unlatching said vdoorsrespectively.'y i y iff" i r`v3. Al door opening and closing 'n'iechanisinV riage movable over said track, doors conynected with said rod and saidv carriage, the :connection between saidV rod and said carriage being arranged to permit a `slight y movement of the carriage independently of the rod, a latch carried on said cylinder and l overlying said rod,V a latch engaging member Y on said carnage, and means on sa1d rod enf'gaging 'said latch for latching and unlatch- 

